The Long Way Home
by Jyxxie
Summary: Through alchemy that creates portals to different worlds, Edward ends up in Washington, DC, in the midst of a murder investigation. What is this strange place, and how will he get home? - No pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own NCIS, Fullmetal Alchemist or any characters from those shows.

**Summary**: Through alchemy that creates portals to different worlds, Edward ends up in Washington, DC, in the midst of a murder investigation. What is this strange place, and how will he get home?

* * *

Edward tromps towards Mustang's office, a look of supreme annoyance on his face at he passes everyone. Nobody dares to speak to him, for fear of his temper flaring at them.  
[That damn Colonel. He knew I was headed home to visit Winry. He_ knew_ it, so he called me back just when the train got here!]

"Oh, Fullmetal," Mustang waves Edward in as he spots the bright red coat, golden blonde hair, and over-compensating attitude walking through the door. He waves his subordinates out the door, giving some privacy. Moments later, Alphonse slips through the door, having been ever the gentleman to hold the door for the other men.

"What the hell do you want, Mustang?" Edward stuffs his hands in his pockets.

"I would appreciate you addressing me correctly once in a while, _Fullmetal_."

"Oh, I'm sorry. What the hell do you want, iasshole/i?" Edward retorts, voice dripping with malice.

"Brother, you shouldn't speak to the Colonel like that.." [Even if he did make us miss ANOTHER train..] He hangs his head a little.

"I called you here for something I thought you might appreciate." Mustang picks up a file on his desk and meets the young alchemist in the middle of the room. He hands the file to Edward. "There have been reports of a.. gifted, but eccectric, alchemist on the outskirts of Central. He keeps telling people he's investigating portals.. to other worlds."

Edward's eyes widen, and he looks at Alphonse. "Do you think he means the Gate..?"

"I don't know, brother.. but I think we should check it out."

"The man has gotten so annoying about it, that the military has been asked to go see what it's all about and take care of him accordingly. I figured this falls under your interests, so I'm assigning this task to you."

"Yeah.. fine. I'll go see what it's about," Ed says, turning to head for the door.

"Edward."

Ed turns to face Mustang. "What."

"Be careful. Your interest isn't the only reason I'm sending you."

"..Got it."

* * *

Walking down the street, Edward rubs his right shoulder with his left hand. "Damn winter, damn the cold, damn this metal," he mutters, complaining about everything he think of.

"Ed.. you can't be mad at Colonel Mustang all the time. He is only trying to help, you know.."

"A lot of help he is! He almost sends us to our _death_ and the most we get is a hint here, a tidbit there. I would love to just find the damn stone and never have to deal with him again!"

Alphonse frowns as much as a suit of armor can, going silent and just walking along with his disgruntled brother.

* * *

It isn't long before they reach the residence. It's an average building.. but so was Nina's home, and hell breached that house.

A quick knock by Edward, the sound of several somethings hitting the floor, footsteps shuffling, and the door opens. The man looks.. pale, thin, undernourished and underexposed to the daylight. His eyes are big, curious, and his round-rimmed glasses only magnify them, making them appear much too large for his thin face. His long brown hair is messy, slightly oily, and pulled back into a quick, loose ponytail. A quick glance reveals the books that had falled from messily-created stack, knocked over when the alchemist jumped to answer the door.

"Oh-hello, you must be here to hear about my research!" He sounds rather excited, and a bit unsocialized.

"Ah.. yeah. I'm Edward Elric, the-"

"Fullmetal Alchemist! I've heard about you! You and your brother, and your quest for the Philosopher's Stone!"

Edward's face reddens a little. "How-how do-" He quickly grabs Alphonse and gets everybody inside, shutting the door. "We uh, we have come to hear about your research.."

"Oh! Right, my research, wonderful!" He turns away to grab some books, then pauses and whips around, holding out his hand. "Sorry sorry! I'm Professor Goatram."

"Uh, Professfor Goatram. Nice to meet you," Edward replies, returning the shake with his left hand-seeing as the Professor offered his own left hand.

"Yes, yes. Now.. " He grabs what looks like five thick journals and sits them on the table, picking up the most worn one first. "This is my first journal on portal alchemy, I wrote all of my thoughts and notes in there as they came to me.. So many thoughts! The ideas kept coming and coming!" He shoves it into Edward's hands, opening it to explain a few key points, about how exactly it works, and what symbols mean what. However, after thirty minutes and only just getting to the second journal, Edward sets the books on the table.

"Professor.. you still haven't told me where exactly the portals lead to."

"Oh.. oh, that. Ah, you see.. I'm not sure. I haven't met anyone yet willing to test my portals.. they're a bit unstable, but I'm sure you would be able to return the same as you left." He grins nervously.

"It's that easy?" Edward gains an intriuged look.

"Well.. there are some, ah.. risks."

"What are the risks." Edward narrows his eyes at the man, who nods and grabs a small notebook.

"Um, I haven't actually had a chance to test it yet, but.. due to the types of alchemy it uses.." He pauses, opens to the correct page. "..I have a list here of some of the risks. Disembodiment, loss of soul, loss of life, loss of brain function, inability to return to original launch point, no telling what's actually on the other side.."

Edward stares at the professor. "What are you, CRAZY? Why are you doing this kind of alchemy if it's that risky?"

"I'm a scientist, a researcher! Someone has to explore all of the odds!"

"At those risks? You're a maniac!"

"Fine, FINE! If even the military won't listen and won't help me, I'll test it myself! I've been working on this too long to just give up!" He grabs his thickest journal and throws it at Edward's head, it landing smack-dab in the middle of his face, knocking him over.

"Ah! Brother!" Al reaches down to help Edward up, but the blonde is on his feet in milliseconds.

"HAY! GET BACK HERE!" Ed yells in frustration and runs after the professor, who had turned a corner and ran down into the basement of the building. "I'M GONNA KICK YER ASS FOR THAT YOU PSYCHO!"

The sound of alchemy fills the basement, flashing with a vividly multicolored light-the light is shifting colors, almost like a fiber-optic lamp. Ed stops, not even down the stairs yet, to stare at it. The design is ornate.. in a scribbled way, and not entirely round-it's an octagonal outer circle, with foreign writing bordering each of the eight edges.

"Brother, look! He's going to jump!"

Ed's shaken by his brother's cry as the Professor watches the circle eagerly, the center slowly dissolving into a swirling mass of color. Edward runs down the stairs as quickly as he can, running toward the Professor-who jumps just as they meet. "NO!"

A quick yank on the Professor's arm sends the man back onto solid concrete-but Ed loses his balance, falling backward, leaving a horrified Alphonse frozen in terror at the bottom of the steps, too far away to help his brother as he fals to his doom.

At the last moment, Alphonse runs forward to jump into the void after his brother, but just as Edward disappears, the circle vanishes, leaving Alphonse to crash and skid on the concrete. "No.. brother.. NO! NOO! EDWAAARD!" He bangs his fists on the floor, screaming for his brother.


	2. Chapter 2

_Down, down down. Up, left, down, he wasn't even sure anymore. Burning pain.. a feeling of detachment, then nausea and breathlessness. Edward was sure he was dying, that's the only way this could be described, couldn't it? Light.. light, it was growing brighter.. all of a sudden, a blast of alchemic energy blinds him, before a sudden, rough jolt courses his body as he.. lands. Hard, on the ground. The light is dissipating.. as he blacks out. [Alphonse..]_

* * *

"DiNozzo, look over there, see if you can find anything else. McGee, call and tell Abby that she's getting plenty of evidence this round." The voices are.. fuzzy, distant.

Then a female. "Gibbs, there is something small and red over here. It looks like something covered with a blanket."

Footsteps then, distant, but slowly moving closer.. closer..

"Uh, Boss, I think it just moved.." comes a new voice, followed by a round of clicking sounds.

With a groan, Edward moves his stiff body, feeling as though he'd been hit by a truck. "Hnnnhmmmrrrwww.." he tries to speak, ask where he is; but all that comes out is a strange, slurred jumble of sounds.

"Freeze, NCIS!" The first voice speaks again, moving closer; but a fourth set of footsteps enters, with a guy that sounds like a smooth-talker. "Geez, he looks like he crashed here. Maybe he fell out of a helicopter?"

"Ziva, keep on him, DiNozzo, check his vitals. McGee, call Ducky, tell him to get over here right away."

Edward can feel somone touching his neck; then open his eyeballs-allowing flooding light into them, blinding him. He groans loudly and pathetically pulls his head away, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Uh.. Boss.. he uh.."

"What is it, DiNozzo?"

"His eyes.. they're yellow."

* * *

DiNozzo keeps watch over Edward until Ducky arrives, noting his curiously-colored eyes again. Luckily he hasn't noticed Edward's metal limbs, as he hasn't checked more than Ed's head.

"Oh, Jethro! What.. my my, what have we here? What sort of unfortunate accident has this young man befallen? Here, let me have a look at him." This new man.. strange accent.. but sounds kind of friendly. Edward feels himself moved from the spot, finally, for the first time since he'd been awoken-and hears a gasp from the woman.

"Gibbs! There is a gun under him!"

"Bag and tag, right now."

Edward groans loudly, eyes still shut, but as he's sat up, he hears the friendly voice again. "Young man, could you open your eyes for me? I want to make sure that you're all right." After a few moments, Edward slowly opens his eyes, vision blurry, unable to make out all but a moving.. something.. before a bright light comes from that something. A flashlight, maybe? It's over in a few moments, but he leaves his eyes open, as they seem to slowly be focusing.

"Those eyes.. Jethro, he is not wearing any contact lenses. Those.. are his natural eyes."

"Is he blind, Duck?" Gibbs looks down to see Edward's eyes, looking fairly confused.

"I'm rather sure he's not, but hopefully he can explain for us."

"Yes, explaining would be nice." The smooth-talker again. "What's your name, kid?"

Edward looks around, slowly, feeling disoriented and dizzy as he moves his head. "Hooo.. wh-whoo.. errr.. yooo.." he manages to get out, suprised at the mush that escaped his own mouth. He licks his lips confusedly.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS. Now, what's your name?"

"Auhhhmm.." Edward reaches up his left hand and rubs at his mouth, trying to make it work. "Ehh.." he pauses for a little cough. "Ehh-dwaaard. Eurric." He frowns. "Ehhrr..ikk. Erlll.. Eh-l-wrik. Demmat!" he groans and shakes his head, but that only makes him sway unsteadily. "Wos.. wrong.. 'if mmmee.."

Ducky frowns and takes another, better look into Edward's eyes. "I'm not sure.." he looks over Edward's head, finding a rather nasty bump on the side. "Oh, dear.. how did you hit your head like that? That usually takes falling from an aircraft. It's a miracle you survived at all."

Ziva looks at Gibbs, who keeps his attention on the young boy. "Well Duck, until Edward here improves, he's under your care. Maybe then, he can help us out with this mystery."

Edward looks up at the fuzzy outline of Gibbs as he walks away. Something strikes this man as.. familiar. Almost like Mustang. Mustang.. He drifts off, slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

Cold.. it feels cold in here. His head feels a little more clear, though. Edward slowly awakens, feeling drowsy and drunk, opening his eyes. It's dark where he lays, but there's light from the other end of the room. There's.. tables.. for people to lay on, and what looks like surgical tools on a tray. Operating room? Hospital? That means.. they want to operate on him?

He jumps suddenly, but, still recovering from a hell of a head-whack, loses balance and falls off the table with a "Snrk-uungh!' and hitting the floor on his left arm. "Auughhooooo.."

"Oh! Young man, be careful, you're still recovering from your concussion! Here, let me assist you." That friendly voice from earlier.. Edward, now with his vision back to normal, can make out its source-an older man, wearing a suit a surgeon would wear.

"Y..you're not.. gonna.. operate.. on-on me, are you?" Edward gets out, pale with nervousness.

"Oh..oh! Heavens no! No, you're in fine health, there's no need to operate on you." He helps Edward to his shaky feet. "I am Dr. Mallard, by the way."

"Dr.. Mallard. Hello." Edward puts a hand to his head. "I'm Edward. Elric."

"Oh, wonderful. Now we have a last name for you. Be back in just a moment." Ducky turns to call Gibbs.. but, surprise! Gibbs has just arrived, with his perfect-as-always timing. "Oh, Jethro! Good, you're here. He's up and talking. He ah, said his last name is 'Elric'."

"Elric, huh?" Gibbs walks over to Edward, whose face holds the expression of someone that's about to sneeze. "Edward Elric?"

"Yes. Who are you..?"

"Special Agent Gibbs. Are you feeling up to explaining why you were in the woods, with a gun, with a concussion?"

Edward stares at Gibbs in confusion. "..The woods? A gun..? Wha?"

"I suppose not." He pauses, looking at Edward. "Where are you from?"

Edward, lost in thought, doesn't realize Gibbs has spoken to him until a minute later. "..What?"

Gibbs frowns a little. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah." That never needs thought with Edward. He puts his left hand to his face, rubbing it-then realizes the glove is gone. He quickly checks his right hand.. the glove is still there. His red coat is gone, too.. but his long black shirt is on still. His arm is completely covered. "Where's.. my coat?"

"It's with Abby. She'll return it when she's done checking it. Stand up, I'll take you upstairs."

"What's upstairs? Who.. I remember voices.. from earlier. Who were they?" He's starting to find his voice again.

"I'll introduce them to you." He pauses in speech as he leads Edward into the elevator. "You're not blind, are you?"

"..Blind? What kind of a question is that?"

"Your eyes are a strange color."

"They are not! Gold is a common eye color."

"..You are going to have to tell me where you're from, kid."

Before Edward can protest to the kid comment, the elevator dings, and the doors open. Edward looks around, walking out towards the people. Gibbs quickly matches Edward's pace, watching him like a hawk. "DiNozzo, McGee, Ziva. Come meet the mystery kid."

McGee gets up and walks over, as well as DiNozzo. Ziva just stands, looking a little curious.

"Ah.. hello." Edward speaks a little nervously. "I'm Edward.. Elric."

"Tony DiNozzo," speaks Tony, the first to offer his hand.

Edward tentatively shakes Tony's right hand with his own, and Tony spots some metal under the shirt cuff. "Whoa, neat armband. What are you, a techno guy like McGeek here?" Tony jerks his thumb at McGee when they finish shaking, and Edward covers his arm nervously. "McGeek?"

"No, it's McGee. Tim McGee, nice to meet you." He notes Edward's awkwardness with his right hand. He just gets a nod from Edward.

"Hello, Edward. I am Ziva David." Ziva holds out her hand, waiting for Edward. Edward nervously puts his hand in hers, and as she shakes she takes note of how his hand feels, but mentions nothing of it.

"Zee..va. Interesting name.. where are you from?"

"Israel," she replies, and Edward's face just shows a look of cluelessness. "Ahh..euhrr.. Is-is that near Ishvar at all?"

"..Near where? I know all countries near Israel, I have never heard of an 'ishbal'."

"Where are you from, Edward?" Gibbs asks Edward, as everyone else is also wondering.

"Risembool. Well, I was at Central before I got here."

"Central? Central where?" Ziva.

"Central. Central Headquarters, Central Command."

"Military?" Ziva narrows her eyes.

"Obviously," Edward snorts.

Gibbs, frustrated, raises his voice a little. "What country?"

"Amestris, where else?"

All four of them are silent, and Edward just looks around. "What? I.. uh oh.. I'm not in Drachma, am I?" He frowns and shrinks back a little.

"What the hell is Drachma? Where is Amestris? What are you talkin' about, kid?" Tony says, mouthing everybody else's thoughts.

Edward frowns and shakes his head. [No.. the portal.. the portal.. where am I?] "Where am I?" Edward suddenly shouts, looking panicked.

"Calm down," Gibbs orders. "Ziva, take him down to interrogation. He needs to relax so we can figure everything out."

Ziva grabs the defensive Edward, forcing him towards the interrogation rooms. "Come on, this way! You'd think it'd be easy to move someone this small!"

"WHO YOU CALLIN' SMALL?" Edward suddenly yells, gaining the attention of Gibbs and Tony, who run toward the two, Ziva trying to get control of Edward, who is matching her in hand-to-hand combat. Edward spots Gibbs, who has a gun drawn. Within milliseconds, he kicks Ziva to the side and yanks his right arm up-just in time to stop the bullet from hitting him. He stops where he is, huffing, the bullet falling from his arm. "WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING AT ME?" He yells, giving his right arm a little shake.

Tony just stares at Edward while Ziva gets up and points her gun at Edward's head. "I bet this is not bullet proo-"

"Put the gun down, Ziva," Gibbs orders, gun still trained on Edward. As she lowers her gun, Gibbs moves closer. "Show me your arm, Edward."

Edward nods slowly, unbuttoning his shirt and sliding it off-revealing his average left arm.. and his completely mechanical right arm, lifting it up as he flexes his fingers.

Everyone stares; but McGee, joining the party _finally_, runs forward, not even noticing the fact that three guns are trained on Edward. He reaches out hesitantly to the arm, not even registering Gibbs calling out his name. "Whoa.. what is this?"

Edward lets McGee look at it. "You've never seen automail before?"

"Automail..? No, I've never heard of it either.. It's amazing.. is there a computer in here? How does it work?"

"MCGEE! Get your ass back here!" Gibbs orders, voice laced with annoyance.

"Oh-oh uh, right, boss.." McGee goes back over to where Tony is, and Ziva walks with Gibbs as he directs Edward toward the interrogation rooms.

"That was..amazing," McGee says, taking the last glimpse of Edward's arm as they turn the corner.

"Yeah.. makes you wonder.. who is he and where _does_ he come from?"

* * *

"Tell me, from start to finish, who you are, where you are from, how you got here, and what you're doing here."

Edward nods and takes a deep breath. He has no idea that the rest of the team has gathered outside the glass-Tony, Ziva, McGee, Abby, Ducky, even the previously-absent autopsy gremlin, Palmer.

"My name is Edward Elric. I'm from a small town called Risembool, where my brother and I grew up with our mom.. before she died. After that, we went to study alchemy better from a teacher.." He pauses, leaving out the alchemy accident's details. "My brother and I were in an accident. I lost my arm and leg, and-"

He's interrupted by Gibbs. "Your leg?"

"Yeah." Edward reaches down, removing his left boot, sock; he then lifts his leg up, setting his foot on the table to show Gibbs. "It's all automail to just above the knee."

"What is automail?"

"..You really don't know?"

"Wouldn't be asking if I knew."

"It's prosthetics. It's mechanical. A base is surgically grafted to the skin.." he pauses, pulling his tank top off, revealing the attachment area, as well as the scars-and everyone behind the glass gasps, almost in unison. "..and what it does, it amplifies the signals the brain sends to the limb, and allows me to move it like a regular arm."

Gibbs stares at Edward's arm and the spot it meets the body. "Did you make this?"

"What? No, I don't have any idea how to make it. Winry did it. She's my mechanic, she makes automail.. and she gets so pissed when I break it," he adds, shrinking down a little.

"Winry?"

"Winry Rockbell, of the Rockbells in Risembool."

"Where exactly is Risembool?"

"Risembool is near East City in Amestris."

"Where is Amestris?"

"..You're kidding, right?"

"No. Where is Amestris?"

"Wh-" Edward groans exasperatedly. "Amestris is the country right in the middle of the other countries Drachma, Creta, Aerugo, and the desert that separates all of them from Xing."

Gibbs stares at Edward, then sighs. He turns and leaves the room. "Duck, Abbs, I want you to check his body chemistry. See if he's taken anything, if he's delusional, if he's any different from a normal person in any way."

Abby holds up her hand. "Um, Gibbs.."

"Yeah Abbs?"

"I checked his red coat.. and there was something strange about it."

"Well, what?"

"Well, I checked all over to see what might be in the fibers. There was dirt and leaves from all around the crime scene. Major Mass Spec picked that up. The only thing is.. whatever his coat is made from, there's no other fibers like it here on earth."

"Alien..?" McGee sputters, and Tony shakes his head.

"No, Probie. He's gotta be from another dimension."

"McGee, DiNozzo, _shut up_!" Gibbs suddenly yells, putting a hand to his head. He gets quite a few stares at that last outburst.

"Boss, are.. you okay?" Tony asks, and Gibbs puts up his hand.

"I will be when we figure out what's up with this kid. McGee, go look up alchemy and see what you find. DiNozzo, go look up the countries he named. Ziva.. talk to him, see what else he comes up with. See if you can't get something else from him, something from _this_ world."

"Yes, Gibbs," Ziva replies, heading to do her job without question.

"Boss? Where are you headed?"

Gibbs doesn't answer, just leaves the hall, needing time alone to think. [Not once, did his face show he was lying..]


	3. Chapter 3

Edward does not like this woman. She shows little emotion and seems to have a superiority complex. At least, it seems that way to him. However, he answers all of her questions truthfully, but when she speaks to him about this world-mentioning things new to him such as computers, America, planes.. he is completely lost.

"I told you, I don't know what an America is!" He groans, putting a hand to his face. He's starting to get cranky. Why? His stomach growls loudly, and Ziva blinks.

"When was the last you've eaten?"

"Well.. before I arrived here.. Half a day before I arrived. Can I have some noodles? I'm starving." He groans.

"Yes. I'll go get you some. How much would you like?"

"Ten bowls at least." He rubs his empty belly, and looks up to see Ziva's curious face. "..What?"

"Ten bowls?"

"At least. I'm really, _really_ hungry. Go!" My my, pushy.

* * *

Abby turns to call Gibbs, but he's just walking through the door. "Great timing, Gibbs!"

"What do you got, Abs? Tell me it's good news."

"Sorry, it's not. I ran the prints on the gun; they came back-but they're not Edward's. We have a new suspect now!" She says cheerfully, then points at a silver pocket watch with a strange emblem. "This, however,_ is_ Edward's, and I got a few prints off of it. But when I ran it.. there were no matches. In _any_ database."

Gibbs nods and looks at the picture of the new suspect, but his mind is still on Edward. "Have you run his blood test yet?"

"Yes, I have. And the results are here." She picks up a paper and hands it to Gibbs, who just looks at her.

"He's completely normal. Well, except for slightly elevated adrenaline levels. But after what he's been going through, can you blame him?"

"Do we have any idea where he's from?"

"Not a clue, Gibbs. Oh! Can you get me a small scrape of his metal prosthetic? I want to know what it's made of."

"Sure thing, Abbs." He pats her on the head absentmindedly and walks out, leaving her looking at him in concern.

"Poor Gibbs.."

* * *

Just as Gibbs is heading toward interrogation, his phone starts ringing. Ziva. "Yeah?"

"Gibbs, don't talk to Edward right now. He has not eaten in over a day, and he is very temperamental. I am in the building, bringing his food right now."

"Did you discover anything new?"

"Only that he knows nothing from our world. He does not even know what America is."

"..His bloodwork came back fine. After he's finished eating, I want him on a polygraph." Gibbs closes the phone, looking through the glass at a grumpy Edward, arms crossed over his stomach, leaning over in an attempt to quell the hunger.

"I want answers.."

* * *

Ziva arrives in the elevator, carrying two large bags of asian-style noodles. Very large.

McGee looks up from reading on his computer. "Ziva, do you need help with those?"

"Yes, I do. Thank you, McGee. Tony! Get over here and help me," she commands, Tony jumping up from his lazy position.

"What? But McGee offered!"

"Yes, and he is working. You are doing nothing. Move, now."

"Yes, mom." He gets up and goes to help Ziva, and McGee just grins.

"Ziva? Can you give this to Gibbs?" McGee gets up and hands Ziva a small note. "Please."

"Sure, not a problem. Come Tony, let's go." She picks up one bag, leaving Tony with the other.

"These are heavy.. how did you get them both _in_ here alone?"

"Because, Tony, I work."

"Ooh.. that's a low blow."

* * *

The food arrives, but Gibbs can hear Tony and Ziva before they arrive.

"There's a lot of food here! It's not hard to drop one of the containers!"

"I have not dropped any of mine, Tony."

"Boss! Hey, we have the kid's food. Ten bucks says he'll never finish half of it."

"Thank you, DiNozzo. Go clean up that mess you made." Gibbs takes the first half of the food in, after shaking his head. [Why did she buy so much?]

Edward looks up, and jumps to his feet enthusiatically, practically drooling at the smell.

"You must be hungry." Gibbs sets out the first styrofoam container, lifting off the plastic lid. He then grabs the utensils the chinese restaurant had included; fork, spoon, chopsticks.

Ed grabs the chopsticks immediately, sitting down to his food. He looks up at Gibbs, says a quick 'thanks' and starts going at it.

* * *

After Tony is finishing up the mess-incuding spraying carpet cleaner, which he had found in a cupboard nearby-he returns to the observation room, only to see Edward starting on the second half of his large order of noodles. "Whoa! How the-where does it all go?"

Ziva has been watching, both amazed and disturbed, but unable to look away. "He eats one bowl so quickly, then sets it aside and starts on another one before you blink. I have never seen anybody eat this quickly."

"No way.."

"Tony?"

"Yeah Ziva?"

"You own me ten dollars."

* * *

After 25 minutes, Edward finishes all of the noodles, even looking around for more-but realizes that's the end of them. He leans back, metal hand on his stomach, which is bloated from all the food. "Ahhh. Thank you, Agent.. what was your name again?"

Gibbs stares at Edward, waves Tony in to remove all of the food containers, then sits across the table. "Gibbs."

"Gibbs. What exactly is NCIS, anyway?"

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service. We investigate crimes in the US Navy and Marine Corps."

Edward frowns a little bit. "Navy? Marine Corps? What are those?"

"The Navy is branch of the military that operates in waters. Boats, submarines. Marine Corps is similar, but more focused on special ops."

"Our.. military doesn't have either of those."

"Army, Air Force, Coast Guard."

"..No. What are those?"

Gibbs stares at Edward, scanning those strange golden eyes for anything. Anything except the confused, but curious, look behind them. "What is your military like?"

"The person in charge of the entire military is Fuhrer Bradley. There's your different military ranks.. general, colonel, major, private, and of course the sub-ranks among them. There's also the state alchemists, who join the military for better research opportunities.. but really, they just become the military's dogs and do their dirty work," he growls, looking put off by the idea.

"You sound like you've had experience with this."

"Damn right I have!" Edward jumps up. "I'm always sent off to to either the stupidest things or the things no human should ever have to do!"

Gibbs raises a brow, but takes this into consideration. [Maybe this is where his stories come from? Past trauma?] "So you're one of these state..alchemists?"

"Yes." Edward puts his hands on the table in front of him, sighing. "Don't you have alchemy here?"

"We have heard of it, but you speak of it like it's a tool, or a weapon even, not just a simple science."

Edward frowns down at Gibbs, searching the other man's eyes, something dark hidden behind his own. "You have no idea." He claps his hands, putting them to the table. The room seems to darken as violet electricity crackles from the spot, Edward using his left hand to lift a long spear from the table, complete with a little winged chimera at the blade end. The electricity leaves the room, and Edward has the blade touching Gibbs' neck in less than a second. "This is simple alchemy, even a child can learn. There are much more dangerous kinds, used for war." He pulls the blade back, just before Ziva gets in the door, gun pulled on Edward.

"Ziva, put it down," Gibbs replies, staring at the spear in Edward's hand, and at the despression in the table in front of him.

McGee had come down after Edward had finished eating, and was now staring from behind the glass-along with his friend, Tony-and dumbstruck, none of them could even move to check on their boss. Now, however, they run for the door, after the danger is gone, to see. Tony to see the spear, McGee to get into the technical side of it.

Edward sets the spear on the table, sitting back down in his chair. "Due to an accident I had when I was younger, I am able to perform alchemy without a transmutation circle. Not a lot of people can do that."

"A what?"

"Got pencil and paper?"

Edward takes them when McGee offers, drawing a perfect circle, then the simplest of all transmutation circles. "Who wants a quick alchemy lesson?"

"I do!" McGee almost yells, startling the others in the room.

"Look at McEager," Tony comments, and watches with mild interest. Ziva as well, doesn't seem too interested; Gibbs however, is watching like a hawk.

Only five minutes later, Edward has everyone step back; McGee does as he's told, focusing, and the crackle of alchemic electricity is heard; soon, created from the table, is a small knife, if not a little crude.

McGee gasps, his eyes widen and his face opens into a big grin. "I-I did it! I did it! That's amazing!" He picks up the knife, noting every imperfection, but still incredibly pround of it.

Gibbs draws the circle himself, activating the circle using the same knowledge taught to McGee, and forms, for loss of anything else simple, a small boat. The ease of this alchemy suprises Gibbs, and he lifts up the boat, looking it over for a minute. He turns his attention to Edward, who is just clapping his hands together. "Edward."

Edward pauses. "Yeah?"

"Why did you begin studying alchemy?"

Edward's face visibly takes on a darker look to it, the happiness gone from his face. "It doesn't matter."

Gibbs narrows his eyes, looking at the others to leave. After they're gone, he speaks again. "You said there was a dark side to alchemy. Was it something that happened in your past, that you wanted revenge?"

"No! I didn't want revenge, I just wanted to make mom happy after that_ bastard_ left!" Ed yells out, speaking rather freely, figuring what the hell, this isn't even his own world. He grabs the edge of the pockmarked table, trembling, eyes beginning to water. "He didn't even come to her funeral when she died.."

Gibbs watches Edward's eyes, watches as Edward's mind leaves the room. Standing, he walks over to Edward, gently pulling him from his deathgrip on the table.. and pulling him into a firm, comforting hug.

Even at eighteen years old, Edward can't help the sudden surge of emotions that hit him, and he just leans into the embrace as he starts sobbing. Will the pain never fade...

* * *

_Apologies for the OOC with Edward here. I know I did wrong. D|_


	4. Chapter 4

After Edward had calmed down, Gibbs had taken him to the hospital, telling him he wanted to check for any possible damage from the accident. This was a lie; Gibbs wanted to see if there was anything wrong with Edward, mentally; he's just finding everything hard to grasp.

Gibbs sits in the waiting room, toying with the small boat in his hand. [What if it's all true? What if he's from another world?] He looks at the boat, then pulls out the piece of paper with the transmutation circle on it. He stares at it for a long while, just thinking, before he's interrupted by Edward walking into the room, holding his metal arm in his left hand. He's tailed by the doctor, who looks at Edward, then Gibbs. "Everything's normal. He's perfectly healthy."

Edward snorts. "I could have told you that, you know." He holds his arm up to his socket, and just before Gibbs can say 'You didn't tell me that was removeable', he shoves it in-and lets out a muffled cry at the sudden jolt of pain.

"It hurts when you do that?"

"No, I yelled because a snake bit me." Edward flexes his arm, then makes a fist. "Let's get the hell out of here, I hate doctors."

"I see. Thanks, doc." Gibbs follows Edward out, watching as he puts on the automail-concealing black shirt. "Mind if I ask why you conceal your arm?"

"A lot of people treat you different if they think something's wrong with you. I don't need that."

"Ah." They're not far from the exit now. "Well, you're not from this world. How did you get here?"

Edward frowns and looks around as they get outside. These fancy cars still hit him with a little awe. "Another alchemist.. was studying portals with alchemy. He activated one to test it, and.. I fell in."

The corner of Gibbs' mouth pulls into a smile. "Graceful."

"Hey! I did it to save him from falling in!"

"You said he wanted to test it."

"He said portals could kill people! Tear them apart!"

Gibbs looks over at Edward. "You survived."

"How do we know I wasn't just lucky?"

"Maybe you were." He gets into the car, Ed sliding in next to him.

"I just.. I want to get home. To Alphonse, Winry.. even Mustang," he groans.

"Remind me who Mustang is." He heads, not back toward NCIS, but out to eat. He's seen this kid eat.

"Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist. He's a ibastard/i. He only cares about himself, about getting promoted all the time and going on dates and trying to skip out on paperwork." He snorts, and Gibbs just smiles.

"He's an alchemist too, huh?"

"Yeah, the Flame Alchemist," Edward repeats. "He has special gloves.. he snaps his fingers and can cause a controlled explosion or blaze." He wrinkles his nose. "He's a showoff too." As if Ed's not.

Gibbs continues driving, something running through his mind. "You said you fell into a portal to get here.. can you re-create it to return home?"

Ed leans against the passenger-side door, thinking back to his memory of the transmutation circle in the basement. The lighting was dim, and the light of the transmutation distorted the image. "I'm.. not sure.. I didn't see the transmutation circle before I fell into it." He puts his forehead into his right hand. "Somehow, I have to get home.."

"Do you think anyone will come looking for you?"

"I don't know.. There was so much that could go wrong, for all they know, I'm dead.. Alphonse can't risk it, what if the alchemy did something to his blood seal?"

[Well, that's a new term.] "What's a blood seal?"

Edward looks up at Gibbs, who is still driving, but glances at Edward when he gets a response of silence. "Ah, sorry. Is that one of those 'do-not-ask' questions?"

"..." Ed leans his head against the window. "..It's because of the accident. The accident.. was Al and I trying to bring our mother back from the dead."

The car accelerates slightly as Gibbs leans on the gas pedal, before catching himself and relaxing. "Alchemy?"

"Yeah. It never works. We didn't listen to the warnings. Our mother came back.. but as a.. as a monster. It wasn't her." He shakes his head, trying to shake the image from his mind. "I lost my leg in the transmutation. Alphonse.. he was gone completely. I.. there was a suit of armor nearby.. I made a blood seal on the inside; I went back into the gate after him-and I was able to put his soul inside the armor, at the cost of losing my arm." He's trembling, but silent after that.

Gibbs gives the kid a few minutes of silence, before pulling into the driveway of his own home, rather than a public place. He turns the car off and leans back. "What will you do, then?"

Edward stares out the window, silent, for several minutes before he answers. "..Try to go back. I'll try to remake the circle. No matter what the risk is.. I have to try to go back."

[If only we could help. We know nothing of this..] Gibbs puts his hand on Edward's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go inside. I'll make dinner."

Edward looks up at Gibbs, and manages a smile. "Yeah." As they head in, Ed takes a deep breath and looks at Gibbs. There's.. something about him, that feels..strange. Like he's drawn to this strange man. This Agent Gibbs seems to comfort him, just from being around him. It's almost.. like having a father.

* * *

"Remind me why we're back in this area again?" Tony pokes around the area they found Edward.

"To see if we can find any clues to our suspect, or something that will help Edward return home."

"Right.. the secret to the bridging of universes is here, right under the dead leaves."

"Just keep looking. We may find spent bullets or blood or even something else from Ed's home, like notes that-"

She's cut off by a sudden blast of strange sound; it sounds like alchemy-but louder, more warped. A strange swirl of darkness appears above them; Tony directly beneath it. His eyes widen as something drops from it like a stone-landing on top of him, and causing a cracking sound. He cries out in pain, the portal disappearing above them.

"Tony! Tony, Are you all right?" Ziva rushes over, finding an unconscious man on top of Tony. She moves him off and checks Tony, who seems to be favoring his right side.

"I.. I think he.. cracked my ribs.." Tony groans. "Why does it always seem this sort of thing happens to me?"

"Because, Tony. You are an idiot." Ziva smiles and calls up an ambulance for Tony.. and the other man in the strange blue uniform.

"I don't do anything to deserve getting_ hurt_ though, do I?" He huffs a little, the talking.. and breathing.. both painful. "Plague, explosion, shot, this.. come on, gimme a break.."

Ziva smiles. "Just relax and stop talking until you're healed."

Tony grins. "You do care."

"Ohhh, don't flatter yourself. Gibbs would not like it if I punched you while your ribs were broken."

"Ouch.."

* * *

It's getting pretty late. Edward and Gibbs are in the basement, Gibbs working on his boat, Edward trying to recreate the circle from memory. Ed has gone through quite a few sheets of paper-front and back-and still hasn't managed to remember all of the symbols and the writing. He's going to keep trying, even if it kills him.

Gibbs does some more planing on the ridges of the boat, pausing to look over at Edward. "Edward, go get some sleep."

Edward looks up, then over at Gibbs. "I'm still working on this."

"You've been working on it for four hours straight. Go to bed, you'll think better in the morning."

A yawn escapes Ed's lips as he's about to protest, and he groans and stands up, stretching stiff muscles. He heads up the stairs, picking the couch as his bed.

Satisfied, Gibbs picks up his cell phone and dials up Abby's number.

"Hello Gibbs! You're calling pretty late.."

"Is there anything new on the case?"

"Tony and Ziva went back to the crime scene to look for more clues.. but they were interrupted."

"By who?"

"We're not sure yet. He arrived, we think, just like Edward.. he fell from a strange void in the sky, and landed right on Tony."

Gibbs' eyes widen. "Is he awake?" He runs over and heads for the stairs.

"Not yet. Ducky said he didn't suffer anything from the fall, but he's still unconscious, just like he came in, for some reason.."

"On my way."

* * *

The unconscious man has been placed into an interrogation room, positioned so he's asleep with his head in his arms on the table. After hearing what a weapon alchemy could be, and not knowing who this is; they're not going to take _any_ chances.

"Do we know anything about him?" Gibbs asks McGee, who's standing outside the room with him.

"His gloves have what looks like a transmutation symbol on them, so he must be an alchemist. He also had a pocket watch just like Edward. I sent one of his gloves to Abby to examine it."

Gibbs nods. He takes a sip of his coffee-this could be a long night-and heads into the room with the man. Having freed his hands by leaving the coffee outside the room, he stands across from the man, slowly lifts his hands, then brings them down-hard and fast-to either side of the man's head, making a very loud and sudden sound.

In response, after a moment the man softly groans. He mumbles something about Hawkeye and paperwork before slowly lifting his head, blinking away sleep and stretching a stiff body.

"Good, you're awake." Gibbs sits across from the man, crossing his hands on the table. "Can I have your name?"

The man sits up fully, looking at Gibbs for a few moments before looking around. "Only after you tell me where we are."

"Fair enough. We're at NCIS, a criminal investigation facility. Don't worry, you're not in any trouble. I just want information."

[NCIS? The hell?] He narrows his eyes before speaking. "Roy Mustang."

Gibbs can't help but grin. [Now we're getting somewhere.] "And why are you here?"

"I'm looking for a friend." Roy crosses his arms.

"Ahh.. could you describe him, please?"

With a snort, Roy grins. "He's too short for his big temper, blonde hair and eyes, red overcoat, eats too much and always has his nose in books."

"Hm." Gibbs stands, heading for the door. "One more question. Where are you from?"

"Central Command." He looks up at Gibbs, who nods a little.

"Thank you. I'll be back." He leaves then, and not long after, has sent Ziva to fetch Edward. He checks the clock.. 1am. Eh. He takes another sip of coffee. He was right.. this is going to be a long night.

* * *

Edward arrives with Ziva, heading down the stairs toward the interrogation rooms. He's now fully awake, but a little cranky. "You still haven't told me why the hell you woke me up and brought me here."

"I know."

"Then tell me!"

"You will see in only a minute."

Edward grumbles, but waits until they enter the room. He sees Gibbs standing at the window, but then looks through it-and gasps. "Wh-what-HIM? WHAT'S HE DOING HERE?" he yells, feeling insulted. He runs forward and into the interrogation room before anyone can grab him. "MUSTANG!"

Roy looks up, and a suprised, yet amused, expression appears on his face. "Fullmetal, you_ are_ alive."

"OF COURSE I'M ALIVE!" Ed growls indignantly. "Why _you_? Why not someone who gives a damn?"

"Oh, you know. It was supposed to be someone else but I was knocked in first." A lie, which Gibbs catches a mile away.. but Edward is oblivious to.

Ed groans, putting a hand to his face. "We're screwed. We'll never get back now, because you had to fuck up. Grrrrhnnnnnn!" He releases a yell of frustration.

"We'll get back somehow. Now, tell me.. where are we?"

Ed groans exasperatedly and sits down in the other chair, staring at Roy with annoyance clear as day on his face. "America."

Roy quirks an eyebrow. "Care to clarify?"

"Well, long story short, we're in another.. world, or dimension, I don't know which."

Roy stares at Edward, then looks at the door. "Uh-huh. How different is it?"

"It's.. kind of like.. going into the future. Technology is better here. There's alchemy, but nobody knows about it. There's no automail either. The military is more advanced, more branched out.. they have military for the skies, the oceans.." He shrugs. "Other than that, the world is smiliar."

"Hm." Roy stands and looks around once more. "Get us out of here, Fullmetal."

"Uh, yeah." Ed heads over and opens the door, with Gibbs meeting them both at the door.

"Welcome to NCIS, Colonel Mustang," Gibbs says, holding out his hand for the other man. "I'm Special Agent Gibbs. Let me know if there's anything you need."

Mustang shakes Gibbs' hand. "You could tell me more about your military," he replies, an interested look on his face.

Gibbs grins. "Yeah, sure."

Edward snorts. "What about home?"

"I guess we have to wait for someone else to fall through the portal," Roy says disinterestedly.

Edward growls and turns, giving Roy a shove as he heads to get out of the hallway. "Asshole."

* * *

"Wake up, McElric," Tony says to McGee, who had been practicing drawing the transmutation circle perfectly, rather than typing up a report that had been waiting for him.

McGee drops the paper, looking up at Tony. "Uh, ah, I.."

"We get it. You like alchemy. Boss wouldn't be happy to hear you're skipping out on your work though." He had just finished cleaning his gun while reading some articles on the internet that may help them with one of their cases.

"All right, all ri.. Edward?" He spots Edward storming through the bullpen, headed for the elevator. "Where are you going?"

"To find a library in this world and try to find some damn answers!" Well his mood is sour.

"Oh, well, I'd better come with you, make sure you don't get lost.."

Ed glares daggers at McGee, who falters, but is much too curious-and overprotective-to obey that look. "I told you, I'm going with you."

"Fine. I need someone to show me where the library is, anyway." Soon, both are in the elevator. The doors close, leaving behind Tony, who feels a little insulted that McGee just brushed him off like that-and Ziva, who looks.. mostly, bored.

"Where is Gibbs?"

"Huh? Y'know.. I'm not sure.." Tony looks around, then heads towards interrogation to check. However, before he can get there, Gibbs and Mustang are heading toward the bullpen, talking almost like old buddies.

Ziva sits up straight, and Roy grins. "I like how well-disciplined your subordiates are. Mine won't take me seriously. Hell, Hawkeye threatens to shoot me if I don't do my paperwork. There's no respect at all."

Gibbs grins and chuckles. "Over time, you'll develop your own thing. Just be good to your agen-ah, your subordinates."

"So, Boss, who..is this?" Tony is now standing near them.

"Colonel Roy Mustang," Roy replies, holding out his gloved hand. "I came to pick Edward up."

"Oh! You did?" He notes Mustang's gloves and 'hmm's curiously. "Say, you wouldn't have.. automail, like Edward, would you?"

Roy laughs. "No. These are my special alchemy gloves. From what I hear from your boss, alchemy isn't really known to this world. Would you like to see my special technique?"

Ziva looks up. "What, can you make ponies appear?" she asks disinterestedly.

Mustang snorts. "I can burn you to a crisp with a snap of my fingers."

Ziva sits up all of a sudden, her face brightening. "Really? Can you show me how?" Typical Ziva, always interested in new ways to bring down her opponents.

Roy chuckles. [She sort of reminds me of Hawkeye.] "Well, Agent Gibbs, what do you say?"

Gibbs glances at Ziva. "You may demonstrate to Agent David, but do not teach her."

"But Gibbs! You have learned alchemy yourself! It is not fair that I cannot learn it too!"

"I learned how to make figurines. Learning this would teach you how to make instant bombs. This is not a knowledge that should be in our world."

Ziva groans. "Understood, Gibbs.."


	5. Chapter 5

"I found some more books that might help us," McGee says, stacking ten books next to Edward's seat. "I mean, they're mostly..fantasy.. but maybe. I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for, anyway.."

Edward nods. "Thanks." He pauses in his reading, and looks up at the new books, pulling them down to flip through a few.

McGee sits next to him, grabbing one to scan to the page he'd taken notice in earlier. He shows it to Edward, who reads it intently for a minute before shaking his hand and waving McGee off.

With a sigh, McGee closes the book and looks at the piles of books around them. There must be fifty here, but still, nothing has caught Edward's attention. He looks at the blonde, watching with interest.

Ed looks up, spots McGee, and frowns. "What?"

"Ah-ah.. will-will you teach me some more? Alchemy, you know?"

After considering this for a few moments while staring at McGee-and analyzing the man, who he figures is fairly harmless, for his naivety and childish curiosity-he smiles a little. "Sure. I'll teach you more."

* * *

"DiNozzo?"

"Yeah Boss?"

"Where is Edward?"

Tony, who had been heading toward Abby's lab, for lack of any other leads or anything.. interesting.. to do, had been stopped by Gibbs, with Mustang still in tow. "He went to the library. McGee went with him."

"Have you heard from McGee?"

"Uh, no, I haven't." At the look he gets from Gibbs, Tony nods and pulls out his phone. "But I'll call him now."

"Good." Gibbs awaits the news, but gains an impatient look as Tony waits for the ringing to end and McGee to pick up.. but only gets voicemail.

"He's not answering his phone." Tony looks up at Gibbs worriedly.

"Let's go." He spins around, Tony trotting after Gibbs, Mustang pulling up the rear. On the way out, Ziva is snagged to go along.

* * *

Only after arriving to the library to find it empty of his agent and the alchemist from Amestris, Gibbs' cell phone rings.. McGee. "McGee, where are you?"

"I'm with Edward. We're at my place, he's teaching me more alchemy. I saw DiNozzo called.. sorry I forgot to check in, I was.. busy.."

"You know the rule. We're at the library because you didn't pick up your phone."

"S-sorry, boss.. Will you come over?"

Gibbs sighs. "We'll be there soon."

Upon entering McGee's door, Gibbs' first image is a strange one. There's a bowl of water on the table, a book, paper and pencils. There stands a black-haired Edward and a red-haired McGee. He stares at the two, who look up in return.

"Oh.. I get it now! McGee is Irish!" Tony begins speaking with an Irish accent. "I always knew y'were, what with the name! Y'just needed the hair t'fit!"

Ziva can't help but smile. "Why did you dye your hair?"

"It's alchemy!" McGee says, and points to the bowl. "You put your hair in here, do the transmutation, and change it to any color you want!" He grins, and Tony points to Ziva.

"Can you make her blonde?"

"Tony! What would make you think I WANT to be blonde?"

"Aw, c'mon, we can change you right back! Can't we?" He faces Edward, who nods, and changes his hair back to golden with a clap of his hands.

"Wonderful, instant hair dye. Want to go back to work now, McGee?" His voice hints at irritation and impatience, but he manages to hide the subtle amusement of a red-haired McGee.

"Ah, y-yeah, boss." He picks up the book, which had been an empty journal, but Edward had been making notes in it.

Edward follows as he trots after the others, but stops when he sees Roy outside. "Why are you here?" He narrows his eyes, obvious contempt in his voice.

"To track you, of course. We have to return some time, don't we?"

"How the hell are we when we don't know how?" Ed fumes, hands forming into fists. "I didn't see enough of the circle, and then your stupid ass falls right in! Now we're both stuck here until somone comes for us, and who knows if they will! You're such a stupid _bastard!_" He growls, feeling ready to punch Mustang, but shows at least a bit of maturity, save the outburst, by just walking around Mustang and heading for the van. They couldn't all fit in the car, now, could they?

"Because, Fullmetal, I have the diagram for the circle right here." Roy pulls out a paper from his pocket, unfolds it, and waves it around.

Edward whips around, spots it, and his eyes widen. At first, a flash of excited hope appears on his face; immedately followed by rage. "YOU LIED EARLIER? WHY THE HELL'D YOU DO THAT!"

"I wanted to learn if this world would be a threat first." Mustang seems disinterested, but inside, he's enjoying pissing off Edward. Gibbs picks up on this vibe, and watches Mustang out of the corner of his eye.

"Can we frickin' GO now?" Ed reaches for the paper, but Mustang holds it over his head, just out of Ed's reach.

"Soon. Not just yet." He hands the paper to Edward, who takes it, committing it to memory as he heads for the van.

"Why not yet?" Ed asks as everyone arrives inside and buckles up.

"I've been asked to demonstrate," Mustang replies, grinning smugly.

"Oh god, again?" Ed groans. "I hope you have somewhere wide and open for him to show you," Ed says to Gibbs, who's driving. "He likes to make a mess of things."

"A football field should do, right boss?" Tony speaks up. "We're not far from it, either."

"Works for me." Gibbs heads for the football field, and it's pretty silent the rest of the way.

After arrival, Mustang heads out into the middle of the field, with the agents standing not far from them. "Fullmetal, get over here. I want a target."

"What? Are you crazy?" Ed crosses his arms, staying with the agents. "No frickin' way do I want to do this again!"

"Stop being such a baby, Ed. Are you really that afraid of me?"

Ed's years of maturing are nonexistant as he growls and stomps out to face across from Mustang. "Nobody's afraid of you,_ Mustang_." He pulls off his red coat and tosses it to the ground. "I can beat you any day."

"Just like you beat me last time, huh?"

"I DID beat you last time!"

"No, you were saved when the Fuhrer appeared. Let's get moving, Fullmetal!" Roy snaps his fingers, a crackle of red appears, and an explosion suddenly appears right where Edward is.

The team gasps at this, Gibbs shading his eyes, Tony jumping and having a bad flashback to when he was nearly blown to bits; Ziva's memory flashing back to training, and McGee just being startled like crazy. As they watch, Edward stumbles back, then takes a quick run to his left, away from the agents. Another explosion appears right behind him; he just manages to dodge out of the way, clapping his hands and sending them to the ground-an explosion knocks him away just as a mound of dirt knocks Mustang off his feet.

"This is why you are not learning his alchemy, Ziva," Gibbs explains, motioning as Edward takes this moment of Mustang's downed state to send a barrage of dirt missiles and using the plants in the ground to shoot up and yank off Mustang's gloves. Ed runs forward, clapping his hands and forming his automail blade. He's pissed, but he wouldn't kill Mustang; only get the bastard to stop attacking him!

As Edward's almost in attack range, Mustang manages to get a spare glove from his pocket. A snap later and Edward is blown back again, and just as quickly, Ed jumps up-but in haste, he mistakenly runs towards the agents, rather than away. Some realize what's going on and manage to get out of the way, but three people are hit in the next blast-Ed, Gibbs and Ziva. Mustang immedately ceases his attack, running forward to be sure nobody's injured.

"Boss! Are you okay? Ziva!" Tony and McGee return to their teammates, finding an unconscious Ziva with her head on Ed's arm-most likely the source of the unconsciousness. Edward is awake, and sits up right away. One thing is sure from this boy; he takes a lickin' and keeps on kickin'.

Gibbs groans and sits up to check on Ziva and Edward, but feels a searing pain in his arm. The flames had ripped right through his left sleeve, leaving a three-inch-long singe on his arm. He checks on Ziva, and finds her fine, aside from being unconscious. "Damn. Colonel! Where the hell did you learn your aim?"

Just as Mustang gets close enough, Ed swings a well-placed punch, his metal fist landing in Mustang's stomach. "I TOLD you we shouldn't do this! Stupid bastard," he grumbles, helping Tony to lift Ziva up while McGee checks Gibbs' arm, though, of course, Gibbs is more focused on Ziva.

"Agent Gibbs, I'm sorry-I noticed just after I snapped, where your agents were." Mustang looks down at Ziva, who McGee is checking now.

"She'll be fine, Boss, just a hit on the head. No concussion, I don't think."

Gibbs sighs. "Ya don't think? Or ya know?"

"Ah, right. No, she should be.. she's waking up." McGee steps back as Ziva opens her eyes, groaning and muttering something in her native tongue.

"Time to send those time travelers back," Tony comments, looking at Ed and Roy. "Was nice havin' you here, but I don't think our world is ready, yet, for your alchemy."

"Agreed. Shall we, Fullmetal?"

"'Bout damn time!" Ed grumbles and claps his hands, putting them to the field, turning the grass black where the circle design is. He makes a large circle and nods. "There."

McGee stares at the circle in awe. [I have got to practice. Too bad I can't learn more,] he thinks to himself with a frown.

Ed gets ready to activate the circle; but pauses, turning to face the agents. "Ah.. thanks. For everything." His eyes glance up at Gibbs, connecting with the older man's.

Gibbs nods and gets his famous half-smile. "Stay out of trouble." He watches as Ed nods, grins, turns around and activates the circle. They all stare as the circle lights up, the center melts away into a spinning vortex, and Edward and Mustang run forward and leap in. The vortex disappeares afterwards, leaving no sign of the two; just a halfway-erased transmutation circle.

The team looks at the empty, quiet field. "They're gone." Tony states the obvious, but everyone is still quiet, so he speaks up again. "Think they'll ever come back?"

"Probably not," Gibbs answers, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, his family's on the other side, not here." McGee.

"I'm gonna head back," Tony announces. "Ziva, can you walk on your own?"

Ziva, now standing, nods. "It was just a bump. I am fine now." She follows Tony to the van, with Gibbs turning and heading back.

"C'mon, McGee."

"Uh, you go ahead, Boss. I'm gonna hang out here a little while longer."

Gibbs raises a brow, but gives a small shrug. "See you tomorrow."

They head off, leaving McGee alone. He walks into the center of the circle, studying what he can of the lines; but, nestled down in the grass, is a folded-up piece of paper.. with the drawing of the portal circle. He looks around and pockets it to file it with his alchemy notes later. He hopes Edward will return soon, so that he can learn more.


	6. Chapter 6

On the other side of the gate, the circle on the floor of the basement lights up the room. The light momentarily blinds those waiting solemnly nearby; Alphonse, Hawkeye, Havoc, Armstrong. As the light diminishes, the onlookers see Edward and Roy, laying in the circle, slowly beginning to get up.

"Brother!" Al yells, clanking as he runs over to check on Ed. "Are you all right? Was there anyone on the other side? Did they hurt you?"

Hawkeye and Havoc check on Roy, who is standing up faster than Edward. "We're fine. There's nobody on the other side.. just endless fields with trees and bushes." He frowns. "I was hoping there would be something over there to bring back for the military," he comments.

"At least we know we're safe from any threats," Armstrong says, giving a nod.

Ed finally stands all the way up, but leans on Al. "I'm fine, Al. Just a little tired." He looks at the others. "I'm going to go through some of the Professor's notes before I leave." He heads upstairs for the books, with everyone following suit.

Mustang confirms that he's going to do the same thing, and Al says that he'll stay too, since he wants to learn as well. The other three leave, leaving the alchemists be.

After a while, Edward glances up at Al; deep in thought in his book. His gaze shifts to Mustang, who looks up at him and gives a little nod. Ed stands up, stretching a bit. "I'm going to study the portal. Al, you keep reading, see if you notice anything about searching for different worlds." He turns and heads down the stairs.

Mustang looks up at Al goes back to the book. He stands and starts heading after Edward. "I'll watch him, make sure he doesn't cause more trouble." Mustang smirks as he rounds the corner and heads down the steps.

Once he's arrived, Edward kneels down by the faded circle. "Do you think they'll continue alchemy? As a science?"

Mustang stands to Edward's side, adopting Ed's hushed voice, so as not to alert Alphonse. "Maybe. You only taught two people, right? They might keep the knowlege for themselves." At Ed's slow, staring nod, Mustang continues. "Would they cross over here to learn more and use it in war?"

Edward shakes his head, gaze shifting down and focusing on the chalk marks. "Alchemy there works like it does here. The circle I used won't last, there would be no way to redraw it from sight. They'd have to know what the Professor does, about portal alchemy, to come." He smiles a bit. "Maybe we could visit them another time."

Mustang narrows his eyes a bit. "Someone may learn of us and become a threat if we were to return," he says, always being thoughtful in military strategy. "It's best that neither world has contact with the other." Mustang looks down at the circle, which Edward had seen in one of the Professor's journals. "Erase what's left, so nobody else can piece it together and cross through."

Ed nods, clapping his hands, leaning down and erasing the remains of the circle. At the sound, Alphonse trots to the doorway, peering down.

"Edward, Colonel, are you okay?" He squints, as much as a suit of armor can, into the dim light after the glow fades.

"Fine, Al. Just cleaning up." Ed watches as Al heads back off after a cheerful "Okay!" and smiles. "Let's go back upstairs and study, like we said we would." At Mustang's nod, Ed speaks again. "First. A tribute to Agent Gibbs and his team." He and Mustang stand there quietly, remembering the team. Mustang heads up after a few minutes, leaving Ed alone to think, reflect on how Gibbs had supported him. Ed closes his eyes, feeling a knot in his throat. [Thanks, Gibbs.] He turns and heads up to the pile of books awaiting him, grinning eagerly.

[Thanks for everything.]

* * *

End! Hope you enjoyed, and apologies for Edward's being OOC around Gibbs. Frustrated shrimp he is.


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